The Hacker
by ToothPasteCanyon
Summary: Jenny starts malfunctioning at random times, and a mysterious stranger claims to be the one hacking her systems. When things start to escalate, it may be time to consider more drastic options.


It was 5:59 on a regular Saturday morning in Tremorton. The sky was clear, the sun was rising, and birds were singing outside one peacefully sleeping robot's window. The clock hit six, and Jenny's eyes opened, roused by her internal clock.

She sat up and stretched before walking to the window. "Wow, what a beautiful day!" Jenny transformed one of her ears into a satellite dish. "And there doesn't seem to be any sign of trouble."

"XJ-9!"

"Except for that. Coming, Mother!"

She dashed off, down the stairs, across the halls, into the kitchen before she even finished her sentence. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, you're up!" Nora was fiddling around with a toaster, a keyboard and a cup of coffee. Though the coffee was more to keep her functioning than part of any design. "I just looked at the time and worried you pressed snooze on your internal alarm. What were you doing up there?"

"Uh, looking out the window? It's a really nice day; I was just taking a second to appreciate it."

"Yes, yes. And have you checked for trouble?"

"Of course, Mom. Everything's fine."

"That's my girl. Oh, and I went out and got you some oil, high octane. It's in the fridge."

"Oh, really?" Jenny instantly brightened. "Thanks!"

Nora closed one eye as she inserted a screwdriver into the toaster. "It's my pleasure, honey."

Once Jenny retrieved the oil, she sat down on the side of the table facing the windows and started drinking it. It really was a beautiful day; the sun was just peeking out from behind Tremorton's many houses, casting deep shades of orange on the cloudless sky. I bet this'll be great for Tuck's science project, she thought. There's no better day to measure which sodas react the most explosively to mentos. She'd have to call them when they get up…

"Isn't that right, XJ-9?"

…But she'd better make sure they're up first. Should probably wait until at least ten; experience had taught her that unlike her mother, the average human did not like being woken up at six.

"XJ-9?"

Though that wasn't entirely her fault. She meant to wake them at seven, but experience had also taught her Daylight Savings Time was a very important phenomenon.

" _XJ-9_!"

"Huh? What?"

'You weren't listening to a thing I said, were you?"

'Uh… sure I was!" She desperately looked around the room before settling on the toaster. "About… that invention?"

"No, though this is to test a very interesting concept I've been working on."

"With a toaster and a keyboard?"

"Correct, XJ-9. Though that still doesn't answer my original question." Before Jenny could guess again, Nora continued. "Since it is clear you weren't listening, I just wanted to remind you that your annual system wide maintenance and upgrade is due in a couple hours. You'll be offline for most of the day."

Jenny sat up. "What?! I thought that was next week!"

"I'm afraid it's not."

"But I'm helping Tuck with his science project today! You know, that thing you dedicated your life too!"

Nora looked up. "Ooh, a science project! I remember those days… hey, if your little friend needs a few ideas, you should invite him to your upgrade!"

"Ugh, that is not what I meant. Can't we reschedule?"

"Of course not! It is essential that a global robotic response unit such as yourself be armed with up-to-date technology!" She started fiddling with some wiring on the back of the keyboard. "Besides, it's your own fault for not remembering. I've been reminding you for weeks."  
Jenny found herself in want of a retort, so instead she turned and stormed out the door. "I'm going out!"

"It begins at ten! Don't forget that one, honey!"

"Yeah, yeah." Jenny readied her rockets. "We'll see how well I re-re-re-re-re-re-"

* * *

"Remember!"

Jenny bent her knees with a creak and blasted off into the blue sky. "Huh, that was a fast sunrise." She looked down into her neighbour's yard and was surprised to see Brad and Tuck already setting up. "And they're already up? That's unexpected."

The brothers looked up when they saw Jenny touching down on their lawn. "There you are, Jen!" Brad came over to give her a one-armed hug whilst cradling a soda in the other. "We were wondering when you'd show up! Did I call while you were fighting monsters?"

"You didn't call me... though maybe I missed it because I was asleep." She crossed her arms, grinning. "Which reminds me. You two are up early!"

Tuck took a swig of soda. "Eh, nothing like sugary drinks and explosions to give ya some motivation."

"Hey, that's for your experiment!"

"And your point is, Brad? It's just some dumb science project; nobody actually cares which soda makes the biggest fountain. Now, hand me the mentoes!"

Brad sighed deeply, and picked up a notebook. "Well, somebody's gotta record the results."

"Let me, Brad." Jenny produced a camera from her arm.

"Oh nice, Jenny! Y'know, you've always got some super cool gadget to help with the situation. I mean, in this case it's a camera – that's not particularly cool – but still! I wish I could do that."

"Well, it's not all great." Her shoulders slumped with a mechanical whirr. "At least you humans don't have to deal with annual maintenance."

"Oh, that? It's in a week, right?"

"Actually, it's today. At ten."

"Aww, that's too bad. It's so nice today!"

"I know."

"The sun's shining, and the birds are singing in the trees-"

"I know!"

"Sorry, Jen." Brad put a hand on her shoulder. "But at least you can stay for Tuck's science experiment! There's no way this'll take two hours."

Jenny frowned. "Two hours? But-"

"Hello!" Tuck called from a half-empty soda bottle. "I'm still waiting for my mentoes!"

"I'm on it, bud."

"But... two hours?" Jenny frowned and checked her internal clock; it informed her the time was definitely 6:15am. She thought on that for a few moments before it struck her. "Of course, it's Daylight Savings! Haha, humans are really weird about time."

"Okay, we're ready!" Tuck was poised above the soda, mento in hand. "Start rolling!"

Jenny quickly corrected her clock and pointed the camera ahead. "Sure thing, Tuck! Rolling in 3, 2, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-"

* * *

"Go!" Jenny blinked. "Wait, where is everyone? And... why do I have a laser out?"

"J-J-Jenny?" A small voice came from behind a table. "Is that you?"

"It's me, Tuck, don't worry. What happened? Where's Brad?"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're okay!" There was a thunk as Tuck attached himself to her leg, crying. "Brad went off to get Mrs Wakeman be-because you wouldn't stop saying 'one, one, one, one, one' in this really c-creepy monotone voice!"

"Crikey, I must have malfunctioned. I guess I really do need some maintenance." She bent down and gently picked Tucker up. "I'm sorry I scared you, Tuck."

"But that's not all! Then you took out your lasers, and-and I hid, but you just kept standing there! It was sooo creepy!"

"It sounds it." Jenny put Tuck under one arm. 'Come on, let's find my Mom and get to the bottom of this."

"But that's still not all!"

"Really? What else happened?"

"We didn't even get to make sodas explode!" He crossed his arms. "I got up early for nothing."

"Uh, okay. We can do that later."

"You promise?"

"Promise." Jenny started walking. "Let's see what Mom has to say about this."


End file.
